When The Door Slams
Because you belong to Christ, the power of the life-giving Spirit
has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.
Romans 8:2
People the world over struggle with addictions, bigotry, sinful attitudes, lies, and every kind of dysfunction imaginable. Many cry out for help, for someone to step in and show them the way out. When they don't find it, they turn to mediums, other religions, self-help books by weak-minded unbelievers. There is all kind of falsehood out there. It's only when we look to Christ, then, we will find true help.
Think about this, what this verse says happens when we belong to Christ: God gives us the Spirit, who will free us from sin. Many Christians will testify to how Christ empower them to overcome their sinful attitudes and habits. It doesn't happen overnight. Do you reality think you can just walk away from you old habits and attitudes without a struggle? There will be behavior battles, when you try to change the habits of your old life.
God's promise is that the "life-giving Spirit" will give us the life we crave-the life of joy and peace, the life of freedom and hope, the life of love and kindness. You can tap into His power at any time, for the Spirit lives within us and is always ready to begin the work that will truly set us free
Ask the Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin.
Acknowledge these to the Lord and thank Him for His forgiveness.
Sunday, July 21, 2019
Sunday, July 7, 2019
Wretched Man
When The Door Slams
So I have learned this rule: When I want to do good, evil is there with me.
In my mind, I am happy with God's law. But I see another law working in my body,
which makes war against the law that my mind accepts. That other law working in my body is the law of sin, and it makes me its prisoner. What a miserable man I am! Who will save me from this body that brings me death? I thank God for saving me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Romans 7:21-24
Unless we can embrace the good and bad in ourselves, we can never be fully at peace. If we pretend that we are all goodness, we live in denial. Rather than seeing our journey through life as a process, we race through life consumed with and controlled by the quest for perfection. On the other hand, we see only badness in ourselves, we make ourselves and those around us miserable.
You know the story: When God accepts us because of what Christ has done, He accepts all of us. He embraces both our goodness and our badness, and covers it all with the blood of Jesus Christ.
Think about this: When we think that God only accepts the good part of us, we are deceived and we become pretenders. We go through life fabricating innocence and perfection and deny our need to grow.
Only as a result of facing God's unconditional acceptance of us can we embrace the deep insecurity and doubt underlying our constant need to impress by pretending and then be free in His love to know that He isn't finished with us yet. Each new day is an opportunity to embrace this reality at a new level.
I am God's child. I am in process. Today instead of pretending innocence, projecting blame and protecting my insecurities I am going to admit my powerlessness, and ask Christ to be my power.
Ask the Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the Lord God and thank Him for His forgiveness.
So I have learned this rule: When I want to do good, evil is there with me.
In my mind, I am happy with God's law. But I see another law working in my body,
which makes war against the law that my mind accepts. That other law working in my body is the law of sin, and it makes me its prisoner. What a miserable man I am! Who will save me from this body that brings me death? I thank God for saving me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Romans 7:21-24
Unless we can embrace the good and bad in ourselves, we can never be fully at peace. If we pretend that we are all goodness, we live in denial. Rather than seeing our journey through life as a process, we race through life consumed with and controlled by the quest for perfection. On the other hand, we see only badness in ourselves, we make ourselves and those around us miserable.
You know the story: When God accepts us because of what Christ has done, He accepts all of us. He embraces both our goodness and our badness, and covers it all with the blood of Jesus Christ.
Think about this: When we think that God only accepts the good part of us, we are deceived and we become pretenders. We go through life fabricating innocence and perfection and deny our need to grow.
Only as a result of facing God's unconditional acceptance of us can we embrace the deep insecurity and doubt underlying our constant need to impress by pretending and then be free in His love to know that He isn't finished with us yet. Each new day is an opportunity to embrace this reality at a new level.
I am God's child. I am in process. Today instead of pretending innocence, projecting blame and protecting my insecurities I am going to admit my powerlessness, and ask Christ to be my power.
Ask the Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the Lord God and thank Him for His forgiveness.
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